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Pointing to a New York City nanny who is undocumented and has spent years raising, nurturing and keeping other people’s children safe and attended today’s Senate immigration reform hearing, Ai-Jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), told lawmakers:If immigration reform doesn’t help Pat and domestic workers and undocumented moms throughout our country, then we can’t really call it reform…It’s time we make our immigration policy work for domestic workers.
Workers at Alameda County Waste Management facilities in Oakland, San Leandro and Altamont, Calif., filed charges alleging the company is illegally threatening or intimidating workers in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. More than 200 workers also initiated a work stoppage that was joined by hundreds of other workers at the facilities. The stoppage lasted five hours before workers returned to the job in order to minimize disruptions for customers.
After a conditional veto of an increase in New Jersey's minimum wage by Gov. Chris Christie (R), working families, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO and a coalition of 151 organizations are pushing for a measure that would raise the state's wage to $8.25 per hour and attach a cost-of-living adjustment to the wage for the future. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D) also joined the "Raise the Wage" campaign. In November, voters will be able to decide on the ballot whether or not to increase the minimum wage.
OK, Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg didn’t say “join a union.” But that’s the message the vast majority of working women should be considering this Women’s History Month. The best way for most women to improve their working lives is through a union. The new PBS documentary, "Makers: Women Who Make America," shows how the women's movement changed the workplace for women, men and families. Two of the young "Makers" highlighted in the film, Sandberg at Facebook and Marissa Mayer at Yahoo, now dominate the news. Here's what neither of them tell you: Union women earn more than nonunion women and have better benefits and working conditions.
All but one of the 22 workers at Brooklyn Cablevision, who the Communications Workers of America (CWA) says were illegally fired in January, are now back on the job, according to Erin Mahoney, organizing coordinator for CWA District 1.Through emails, Facebook likes, petitions, rallies and other means, more than 100,000 people showed their support for the workers who have been attempting to negotiate a contract with Cablevision for more than a year. The workers vow they will continue to demand a fair contract.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today in the case of Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona Inc., determining the constitutionality of Arizona’s Prop. 200, a law that requires voters to present certain documents as proof of U.S. citizenship when using the federal form to register to vote at the polls.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka reacted today to the news President Obama will nominate Thomas Perez as the new secretary of labor:Working men and women will be well served by President Obama’s choice of Tom Perez to lead the Department of Labor.Throughout his career, Perez has fought to level the playing field and create opportunities for working people, whether in the workplace, the marketplace or the voting booth. He has worked to eliminate discrimination in housing, provide access to education and health care, end hate crimes, crack down on employers who cheat workers out of wages and expand our democracy by protecting the fundamental right of every American to vote. In the 1990’s, he worked on the front lines of the effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform under the leadership of the great Senator Ted Kennedy—a job that will serve him well in today’s drive for commonsense immigration reform.
Source: Times Union
Source: MN AFL-CIO
